


Not Afraid

by Inu_Sama



Series: NARUTO FICS [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, F/M, Harry Potter is Naruto Uzumaki, Jinchuuriki Harry Potter, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Smart Uzumaki Naruto, but with all memories, ish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-02 07:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inu_Sama/pseuds/Inu_Sama
Summary: A woman's face swam into view, her pale cheeks stained with tears as sweat stuck her deep red hair to her forehead.For a moment Harry thought it was Lily, that he was somehow having a nightmare. The last thing he remembered was staring at the end of Voldemort's wand, green light glowing from its tip.His thoughts stuttered to a halt.Oh. OH.Well, shite.





	1. Eyes Open

Harry blinked, the world a blurry haze of colours and….screaming? There was an immense pressure in the air, like magic, but different somehow.

 _'Oh Merlin! Was it Voldemort? Did I fail?'_ Harry thought in rising panic. He was relieved when his vision started to clear and the beige smudges turned into rocks and the brown/green turned into a forest. But not the one he'd been facing Voldemort in, he could tell that much. Everything about this situation felt wrong and he didn't know why!

A woman's face swam into view, her pale cheeks stained with tears as sweat stuck her deep red hair to her forehead. For a moment Harry thought it was Lily, that he was somehow having a nightmare. The last thing he remembered was staring at the end of Voldemort's wand, green light glowing from its tip.

His thoughts stuttered to a halt.

He was _dead_ , he had to be. It was the only logical solution to why he wasn't in the Forbidden Forest anymore. But then...what the hell was happening? Harry tried to move his head to look around but it just felt so _heavy_ , in fact he couldn't get _any_ of his limbs to cooperate, only managing a frustrated flail. But then he saw how _tiny_ his hands were and the pieces _(however crazy they were)_ fell into place.

Harry made a distressed noise in the back of his throat, prompting the woman to coo, even as worry and fear clouded those suspiciously bright green eyes. But no matter the similarities, this wasn't his mother. The blond tan man he was handed off to when the screams rose to mass panic levels and the Not-Magic pressure became almost unbearable, was not his father.

Or, at least they weren't Harry Potter's parents. But if he was right, then he wasn't Harry Potter anymore. The next thing he knew was pain, pain, _pain!_ Oh! How it _hurt!_ He screamed for all he was worth because this was way worse than the Cruciatus Curse, _way worse!_

_____________________________

There was something inside of him. He could feel it, there was a darkness lurking at the back of his mind. Frustratingly, it always managed to slip out of his fingers whenever he tried to grasp it. It was warm though, incredibly warm. He didn't know if that was comforting or concerning, considering he had no idea _what it was!_

He growled as his fifth attempt to make contact failed yet again, startling the caretaker currently changing his nappy _(and wasn't_ **_that_ ** _an embarrassing experience!)_ . It had been a few months since _that night_ and he had learned several things.

His name was Naruto Uzumaki. He was an orphan _(big surprise there)_ and everyone was speaking Japanese, which he was somehow able to fully understand and fairly certain he could reciprocate without issue _(despite never learning a lick of it beforehand)_.

Also, everyone hated him.

He suspected it had something to do with the darkness in his mind, but no one was really talking about it. He _had_ heard, however, that the circumstances around his birth were an _SS-Class Secret_ that all denizens of Konoha were to abide by. Suffice to say, he didn't know what it was. It didn't feel like a Horcrux, per say. But it was still _alive_ in the same way; _there_ but not at all _aware_ of what was going on. It was similar in that regard, to the tiny shard of Voldemort's soul he'd unknowingly carried for all those years.

Except it wasn't leeching anything from him. It just felt like a presence in the back of his mind, like someone was sleeping right behind him or something.

It certainly hadn't been there before he'd come to this world--something that he was still coming to terms with. It sounded crazy to him, to be living in an alternate reality, but with every passing day, 'Naruto' was beginning to realise that he may have been reincarnated into a different universe, complete with its own set of rules and stipulations.

It was just his luck that he still had all the memories from his past life. For all he knew, a Demon could have been sealed into his gut--yeah, he'd seen the Seal markings on his stomach. He didn't know what they meant, but he could hazard a guess as to what they did.

_____________________________

When Naruto was five and proven to be able to look after himself _(if only loosely, considering he was still grappling for control over his limbs and couldn't see the top of kitchen counters)_ , the nasty caretaker shoved him into an empty apartment and locked the door. She was a bitter old hag who did the absolute bare minimum when it came to caring for him. Naruto rolled his eyes, it was like the Dursleys all over again. Would he never get a break?

It was when he was trying to unlock the door at around dinner time that he discovered he had no magic _(He'd never tried it before because he was usually watched 'round the clock at the Orphanage)_ . He panicked quite a bit before something _else_ coated his fingers and he gaped at the bright blue light, sizzling and popping like oil in a pan.

 _Chakra_ , he later learned it was called. It was different from Magic, but no less powerful and just like Harry, Naruto seemed to have an above average core.

Naruto felt someone come up behind him and whirled around, backing up as the urge to grab his wand came over him. Instead his fingers twitched uselessly by his side, the Chakra sinking back beneath his skin.

The man was tall with grey hair that seemed to defy as much gravity as the Potter's did, despite not looking all that old. That was another thing he'd discovered about this world; they were all _ninjas!_

The man wore a dog mask and the typical black outfit for one of the Hokage's ANBU, a Special Forces Unit. It would be like the muggle MI6 back in England or the Hit Wizards in the Magical World. Naruto had known, of course, that there was always one nearby. They had been a mostly silent presence on the peripheral of his senses, until now.

"Why did you leave your post?" Naruto asked, trying to make his voice sound even and calm, mature. There was nothing he hated more than being looked down on or treated like a kid. The ANBU Officer stiffened, whether it was from surprise or he sensed something outside, Naruto didn't know. Nor did he care. He was hungry and tired.

"Saw what that hag did. I thought you might be hungry." And it was only then that Naruto noticed the shopping bag, half convinced the asshole had hidden it from him on purpose. His nose twitched, the absolutely _heavenly_ smell he'd noticed on his way here was coming from a small styrofoam bowl. Ramen. There must have been a shop near this place, that was good to know.

He managed to restrain himself until Inu-san had put the steaming bowl on the kitchen table and backed away. Quicker than his little legs should have been able to handle, Naruto was sitting on the table with the bowl in his hands, the rim already tilted to his lips. He was so _hungry!_ This body was a veritable _vortex_ for nutrients, he could eat four times his weight and _still_ be hungry enough for dessert--though he'd never had dessert before due to a certain cursed old hag.

The food was gone when he resurfaced from his aggravated thoughts and the ANBU was staring at him like he'd grown a second head. "Is there more? Come on, _Wanwan_ , don't be stingy!" Naruto decidedly did _not_ whine, eliciting a choked off laugh at the 'doggy' comment as the ninja disappeared before reappearing with ten more bowls.

Naruto cheered, unusually enthused as the steaming bowls were set in front of him. This body didn't do well with hunger. At all. So it was a massive relief to be able to fill the bottomless pit that was his stomach. He didn't even care that the ramen had little to no nutritional value, it was _food!_ He was only vaguely aware of Inu-san's movements, the man coming to sit opposite him as he tried to snag a bowl.

Naruto growled, sounding very inhuman as he hunched over the untouched bowls and eyed the ninja warily. He would have dragged them closer if there was enough room to without spilling them. The darkness in his mind had shifted in that moment to the forefront, imbuing him with the instinct to _rip_ anyone _apart_ who thought they could steal his food and get away with it.

"Maa, kids these days! So _possessive!_ " The ninja joked halfheartedly, putting his hands in the air lazily, like he hadn't just been growled at by a five year old, who was _apparently_ a _demon_ out to steal the souls of other children. Naruto snorted, viciously stabbing one of his chopsticks into a thick piece of beef before popping it into his mouth.

He'd overheard the bints at the orphanage talking when they thought he was out of earshot a few days before he was abandoned in this mouldy, rundown hellhole. It was only slightly better than the mouldy, rundown hellhole he'd come from because there was no one to pester him here.

More fool them, whatever it was that made people hate him, it gave him enhanced senses and a set of instincts that influenced him more than he'd be willing to admit, even in the safety of his own mind.

Just to spite the man, Naruto took the bowl he'd wanted and downed it in one go before moving onto the others closest to the ninja. It seemed to only amuse Inu-san, who was heedless of the danger he was in, had Naruto not had enough control to stop at a simple warning. Considering the ninja had brought him the food in the first place, he'd say it would go against every rule to bite the hand that had so kindly fed him.

_____________________________

"So," Kakashi started, when he saw that the boy was finally done eating. Man, this kid could fucking _eat!_ _'Maybe it was a jinchuuriki thing,'_ Kakashi thought, remembering the way Kushina was never satisfied until she'd divested half the village of Ramen--especially when she was pregnant. He suppressed a shudder, she had been one scary lady, that was for sure.

He was still sad she was gone though. Even after five years he still hadn't gotten over losing the only family that had ever cared about him.

Verdant green eyes that were far brighter--practically _glowing_ \--than Kushina's ever could be, bored into his lone grey one. He suddenly felt like he was exposed to those eyes, like they could see right down to his soul and he felt a shiver run up his spine. Kakashi cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

He was out of his depth here, he always was when it came to kids. He didn't blame the Hokage for not trusting him with raising Naruto. Though from the way the kid had been attacking bowl after bowl of ramen, like he was _ravenous_ \--hadn't eaten for _days_ \--Kakashi could bet that the Hokage hadn't done any better in trusting the hateful bint in charge of the orphanage.

"I think you need to come with me to the Hokage."

______________________________

Sarutobi Hiruzen was pretty sure he was too old for this. There was a reason he'd given up the hat to Minato-kun all those years ago, but with the Yellow Flash gone there was no one else he trusted to take his place. There just weren't that many qualified for the position, and those that were….he thought of a certain pale-blonde alcoholic and shook his head, reaching up to message his temples.

So, here he was, spending his Friday night playing catch-up. Sarutobi had been silly enough to take a couple of days off to rest his aching old body at one of the hot springs the land of Fire happily boasted. Now he was paying for it. Let it not be said that ruling a country was fun, or even without at least three mountains of paperwork to be looked over everyday.

He sighed gustily when he saw Inu-san crawl into his office using the window--because the doors here were just for show, apparently--with a small red-headed bundle in his arms. He ignored the kernel of panic that wanted to unfurl when he caught the tense lines of his favourite subordinate.

This couldn't be good. Was there an attack? Had someone finally realised the boy's true parentage and come after him? He'd tried to hide it as best he could, just as he had of the boy's jinchuuriki status. It was for Naruto's own safety that he'd handed him off to Mavis, like he was any other war orphan. Danzo had vehemently disagreed, saying that they should show their strength after such a blow of losing so many lives to the Kyuubi No Kitsune.

Sarutobi personally thought he'd done the right thing by raising him in the orphanage, if the other option was to hand him over to his old teammate. He loved the man like a brother, but Sarutobi wouldn't put it past the old War Hawk to torture the boy in the name of 'training' or 'tests'. No, he didn't want that for poor Naruto, he was his student's son after all.

"What happened?" He demanded, frowning when Kakashi set the Jinchuuriki down on his feet--his _bare_ feet, no less--and the child looked up at him with curious but _knowing_ eyes. Sarutobi stared back, unable to look away from that hypnotic gaze.

_________________________

 _'Ah, so that's what all this is about.'_ Naruto thought, gleaning the answers to virtually _all_ his questions from this 'Hokage' Person, who seemed to be the leader of the village. Naruto noted, with some resentment, that Sarutobi Hiruzen was very much like Dumbledore in a lot of ways.

They were both well-meaning, powerful old men who had a penchant for sending poor little orphans to live a life of abuse and neglect.

It was somewhat of a comfort to the bitter former wizard that at least this one didn't do it with some ultimate master plan in mind to save the greater good or whatever. It seemed like sending him to that orphanage had been the lesser of two evils and Naruto was grateful for that, at least.

"I want guardianship over Naruto." Inu-san said confidently, taking off his ANBU mask to reveal the same curved grey eye he'd seen before. The Hokage blinked, breaking the connection before quickly pressing a button under his desk and a heavy aura settled over the room; _'privacy ward'_ Naruto's mind supplied--or the Chakra equivalent to a privacy ward.

It was interesting to see that Chakra was much more versatile than Magic, that it could do similar things while also naturally enhancing the human body. A normal human wouldn't have been able to race over rooftops so cleanly and stick to walls without it, after all. But that was how they'd gotten here and Naruto had sensed the ninja carrying him using his Chakra to do just that seemingly without thought.

With Chakra they were able to practically Apparate! And reach speeds so soundlessly that no one in his old World would have been able to do. He was excited to learn how to use his Chakra, the theories behind it and how it stacked up against his magic. Naruto tuned back in when the Hokage shook his head.

"You know why I can't let you do that, Kakashi-kun." But 'Kakashi' only groaned in exasperation, like this wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. That warmed Naruto's heart somewhat, to think that someone had been fighting to have him with them. That not everybody hated the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi No Kitsune, the Human Sacrifice of the Demon Fox.

"Do you know what that Cow has been doing to him?!" Kakashi gesticulated wildly, abandoning his 'lazy' persona in the face of his frustration.

"I found him _locked_ in one of the shitty apartments in the _Red Light District_ , starving and with no way to take care of himself!" Naruto flinched at the loud and angry pitch his voice had taken, inadvertently proving Kakashi's claims that he'd been abused and neglected his whole life.

"She's been doing the absolute bare minimum in taking care of Naruto, spending most of the money you give her on _booze!_ " Now that was news to him, Naruto hadn't known that the old hag was being _paid_ to make his life miserable. Thinking of it like that made his incredibly angry.

"She _what?!_ She was being paid to--" He choked on a frustrated sob, glaring at the Hokage. "She was being paid to make my life miserable?! _Are you fucking kidding me?!_ " He hissed, the room buzzing with an oppressive amount of KI for someone so young.

But it was there and then gone in a flash as Naruto ran a hand through his hair in frustration. This whole situation was shitty from the beginning. At least now he knew _why_.

There was a faint protest of _'Language!'_ whispered from the corner of the room where an ANBU was hanging upside down but Naruto paid them no mind, eyes fixed on the Dumbledore-reincarnate in front of him. Would he _always_ be destined to grow up with people who hated him and treated him like shit?

The Hokage held his ground in the face of the twin glares he was receiving, looking far older than before. "I'm sorry for what you had to go through, my boy. No child should bare hatred for circumstances out of their control. _But_ ," the Hokage continued, turning a stern gaze onto Kakashi.

"You _know_ I can't let anyone but myself have Guardianship over young Naruto. That was the deal I made to keep Danzo away from him." To Naruto's complete disappointment, Kakashi immediately ducked his head like a chastised child. It looked like he would be stuck in that shitty apartment until he came of age--whenever that would be. He honestly didn't know with this world.

"Now, please take Naruto home. It is late and children shouldn't be up at this time." The Hokage clapped his hands once, as if that would make the matter over with. He reached under his desk to undo the privacy ward. Naruto was scooped up, a sulky lump of frustration in Kakashi's arms. He still enjoyed the ride though, it was similar to flying in the air on a broom.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." Kakashi said solemnly, gently, as he deposited the sleepy child onto the lone ratty mattress in the main room. "But just because I can't be your legal guardian, doesn't mean I won't still take care of you, okay?" The man whispered, brushing feather-light fingers over Naruto's unmarred forehead.

Naruto barely felt him leave before he was pulled into morpheus' arms.


	2. Six years later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There are many terrible things I have personal experience in, Sensei. If I can divert an innocent from taking the same paths, then I will." Naruto vowed solemnly before jumping over the railing with the confidence of a lot of practice, leaving the only other equally as broken man behind to think on his cryptic words.

He was on a team with Duck-Butt and the Pink Menace, despite all three of them being the top of their class. In fact, Naruto was Rookie of the Year  _ (Hermione would be proud of him for working so hard) _ and Sasuke was a close second, while Haruno was the Top Kunoichi. So why the  _ fuck  _ were they put together? 

He was  _ not  _ thrilled with this development at all. Haruno glared at him as she shuffled in on Sasuke's other side, practically driving the dark-haired boy to press against him. Which only made the pink twit even more angry at him, like it was  _ his  _ fault Sasuke didn't want her  _ crazy  _ to rub off on his clothes.

_ "Fuck this," _ Naruto muttered, quickly changing seats _ (secretly relishing in the indignant grunt as Sasuke tried to right himself after nearly falling out of his chair.) _ for one at the front of the classroom, next to the window.

He couldn't stand  _ fangirls _ ; they were loud, pathetic,  _ vapid _ , unduly aggressive and obsessive twits. Which in the Shinobi world, could prove to be a fatal mistake that he was not looking forward to dealing with. The  _ only  _ saving grace was that  _ this  _ time, they weren't centered on  _ him _ . He didn't envy Sasuke in the slightest.

When the first hour passed after all the other teams had left, Naruto grumbled to himself and sat on the table itself, his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his arms lax in his lap. Meditation hadn't been his strong suit in his last life, but constantly being in danger will do that to you. That kind of thing trains the body to always be alert for threats, _ 'constant vigilance' _ and all that rot.

This body, however, was like a blank slate. It was easy to pick up things like meditation and Yoga, along with his training--both physical and Chakra. He'd found that, compared to everyone else, he had absolutely  _ massive  _ Chakra reserves and his Coils weren't even  _ done  _ developing yet! 

He already had Jonin level Chakra and Naruto estimated that when he fully matured, he'd be on par, if not  _ above  _ Kage level. It was insane to think about, he hadn't really had the chance to 'measure' his magical core with others' before, so he didn't know if it was the same in his old world. He just knew that it was above the levels of his friends - it had to be otherwise he wouldn't have survived not just the Dursleys but also everything Dumblefuck threw at him during his schooling.

Still, having so much chakra made it very difficult to control and he had to constantly work at it as his Chakra replenished itself overnight after training. He also couldn't do certain Jutsu, like the regular Bunshin No Jutsu. Instead he had to substitute it for a more Chakra intensive one, like the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. 

It took a lot of both logic and whining in equal measures to get the old man to relinquish the more Chakra intensive Jutsus, but he did it and now Naruto didn't have to worry about not being able to do something, as he knew an alternative that was guaranteed to work for him. 

Plus, he knew enough of the theory and math behind Jutsus now to create his own if he found himself limited because of his Chakra reserves.

" _ Naruto!  _ What are you doing?" A grating female voice punctured the peaceful inky darkness he'd submerged himself in and his brow twitched in irritation. Kami,  _ why  _ did she have to know  _ everything  _ everyone  _ else  _ was doing? Why did she have to make it sound like she was accusing him of doing something wrong? 

That stuck-up tone only served to piss him off. He tried to ignore her, sighing gustily and trying to let the tension in his shoulders go. There was a huff and then Naruto felt something enter his personal space. He growled, grabbing the fist aimed for his face without even opening his eyes. 

He twisted the hand to a painful degree--not enough to break, mind, she was still just a child, but enough to upset her center of gravity and flip her on her back. There was a painful groan and Naruto opened his eyes to see the Pink Menace trying to get up from the floor.

"If you  _ ever  _ try to attack me like that again when we're not training, I will  _ break it _ next time. You got that?" He warned, glaring at her. She let out a pathetic squeak that sounded something like  _ 'okay'  _ as she hurried back to Sasuke's side like she expected some sympathy. Instead the broody Uchiha was watching him with something like interest for the first time since they'd met.

Naruto thought that was partly the famous Uchiha Superiority Complex and partly the fact that he had never really shown his true abilities in class before, preferring to keep just  _ how good  _ he was, to himself. It was always better for an opponent to underestimate your ability than to know just what you're really capable of. It would also probably scare them, just a little bit, if they knew  _ everything  _ he was capable of.

It was then that Kakashi--Kakashi- _ Sensei _ , he should probably get used to calling him from now on--materialised into the classroom. Naruto's eyes narrowed, watching the strings of Chakra swirl around the body of his teacher and then run straight up to the ceiling.  _ 'Ah, a Bunshin, huh?' _

"My first impression of you is…." A flat grey eye scanned over them almost lazily, stopping on Haruno with a subconscious curl of his lip in disgust. " _ Pathetic _ . Meet me on the roof in two minutes!" and then the fake Kakashi-Sensei dispersed and Haruno let out a surprised cry and started ranting about the  _ 'audacity'  _ of their Sensei taking so  _ long  _ and then saying something so  _ 'mean'  _ like that to them and  _ 'how were they going to get to the roof in two minutes! That's five flights of stairs!' _ . 

Naruto tried his best to tune her out as he stepped over to the open window, hopping up onto the ledge with ease. He didn't know how to Shunshin yet, so he would have to settle for Wall-Walking--something that he'd done everyday for the past two years to strengthen his Chakra control. 

He couldn't believe that something so useful was not taught at the Academy. Chakra exercises were the  _ basics! _ A fundamental step in learning to control your Chakra! He'd tried talking to the Hokage about it, as soon as he'd heard about it. But the old man just told him it was too advanced for children to learn! That was a load of  _ bullshit  _ and everyone knew it!

"What the hell are you doing, Naruto! We have to go! Sensei said--" Haruno cut off at the scathing look he shot her, smirking when her eyes widened in horror as he stepped out the window. She rushed over to see him walking calmly up the side. Naruto heard his 'teammates' rush over to the stairwell.

He stepped over the railing and sat down on the concrete platform near the doorway, in front of Kakashi-Sensei. Naruto met the surprised stare with an innocent one of his own and Kakashi shook his head and went back to his book, eye crinkling slightly in amusement.

Naruto hadn't seen Kakashi-Sensei since that night when he was five, but food always magically appeared in his fridge and cupboards. His apartment had gotten a good scrub and paint job and the man had even bought him furniture and bloody  _ clothes! _ He had definitely kept his promise of looking after him, even though he wasn't legally allowed to do so.

If the Hokage knew, he was certainly turning a blind eye to it. 

This morning he'd found a note from Kakashi-Sensei on his kitchen table;

_ Naruto, _

_ You're a genin now and technically an adult. _

_ That means you should start paying for things on your own,  _

_ but if you ever need help, I'll always be there for you, _

_ As promised. _

_ ~Chu! _

It was always amusing for such an emotionally stunted,  _ grown-arse  _ man to end all his notes with a  _ kiss _ . He very much doubted Kakashi-Sensei would admit to writing them if he asked, but it would be fun to tease him all the same. His staring earned him a suspicious glare from the man and Naruto tried hard not to grin.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" His Sensei asked, watching the mischievous light in his eyes dance. Naruto pursed his lips but stayed silent. He would prefer to tease his new Sensei without the interference of the others, who were only just now coming onto the roof.

You could tell who was taking their training seriously and who wasn't by way of the fact that Sasuke was only mildly puffed from no doubt running up all those stairs...while Haruno was on the ground heaving, an unattractive amount of sweat staining her clothes and sticking her hair to her skin. And with long hair, that had to be a pain in the arse.

Sasuke halfheartedly glared at Naruto's relaxed state, probably pleased that Haruno was too exhausted to cling to him. The Uchiha sat between Naruto and the railing, a further precaution to stave off the Pink Octopus. Kakashi-Sensei sighed at the other two and turned a page in his book.

"Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, that kind of thing." He waved a negligent gloved hand as he settled back against the railing, ankles crossing as he kept his attention firmly fixed on his book. Everyone stayed silent.

"Pinkie! Go!" their new sensei commanded after a moment, pointing a long finger at the only one that still hadn't caught her breath. Naruto narrowed his eyes, she would need to do some actual training if he was going to tolerate her.

Haruno heaved herself into a sitting position as far away from Naruto as she could get without jumping off the roof and turned to their Sensei. "But Sensei, wouldn't it be better if you go first?" She asked sweetly, the effect ruined by the frustrated tick on her forehead as she glared briefly at Naruto.

" _ No _ , because I'm asking  _ you _ ." Kakashi-Sensei said, looking at her pointedly. She flushed, probably remembering their lesson on Shinobi rules. You had to listen to your superiors and do what you're told unless it unduly endangers your life or the lives of the village/platoon you're in. None of which were applicable loopholes here.

"Fine ah...I'm Sakura Haruno, I l-like--" here she blushed but steadfastly kept her gaze forward. Naruto wanted to groan. Kami, could she  _ be  _ more obvious? Sasuke actually sighed in exasperation from beside him. "I hate Ino-pig! And--" she glared at Naruto, who bared his teeth at her in a soundless snarl as his naturally elongated canines poked out of his mouth.

Haruno visibly flinched before hastily getting on with her introduction. When she was done, Kakashi-Sensei glanced briefly at Naruto and the neutral expression now on his face, before turning to Sasuke.

"You, blue and broody. Go." 

With an irritated 'hn' Sasuke introduced himself, proving to be just as depressing as Naruto remembered, and then it was his turn. He sighed almost inaudibly, he wished he could be tending to his little veggie garden he'd started up last year in the Forest of Death. It always relaxed him. He watched the dust motes swirl through the sunlight as he thought of what he wanted to say. He couldn't tell them  _ everything _ .

"Naruto Uzumaki, I like learning new things and mastering what I've learned. I dislike people who don't take their jobs seriously and traitors. My hobbies are reading and gardening. And my goals are none of your business." Kakashi-Sensei sweatdropped with an eye-smile and hid behind his book.

_ 'Well, at least he's consistent.' _ Kakashi thought wryly, clearing his throat as he felt three pairs of eyes on him. For all that he was the one to initiate the conversation, he really hated introducing himself. But it was tradition, just like the 'test' he was going to put them through tomorrow. Traditions always had to be observed, even if you hated them.

"Kakashi Hatake, I like a lot of things but I also dislike a lot of things, my hobbies are ….well, you're too young for that yet--" Naruto snorted, eyeing the bright orange book in his hands with a morbid sort of curiosity before the boy shook his head. He muttered under his breath about something that sounded suspiciously along the lines of  _ 'not my type' _ . Which, Kakashi wasn't surprised the boy had already figured out his sexuality, considering he was talking perfectly by the age of five despite no one having taught him.

The boy was nothing short of a genius, Kakashi had seen the notebooks with ideas and  _ formulas  _ for new jutsu after all. He knew that, just like with himself, that Naruto was also maturing at thrice the rate of his peers to go along with his smarts. He would need to up his quasi-nephew's training just to keep him occupied. It was always a fear of his that what was left of his 'pack' would leave if he thought the Leaf weren't providing enough stimuli.

"Annnnnnnnnd my goals are also none of your business!" He finished cheerily, earning half-hearted glares from his new 'team'. He clapped his hands once (after he put his book away) and looked at all of them seriously.

"Right! Tomorrow meet me at training ground 7 at 8am." He told them as he pushed off from the railing and started walking towards the opposite end. "Oh! And I would suggest you don't eat anything, wouldn't want you to puke!" He called over his shoulder and made a hasty exit - or at least, made it look like that when really he had just shunshined onto the roof over the stairwell above them.

He would need to know what his team was like without him there, without an authority figure to potentially punish them for being little shits to each other. Interestingly, Naruto sniffed the air and Kakashi had to duck behind the short wall ringing the little roof to avoid that sharp verdant gaze. 'So, watch out for the pup's wicked senses, then' He noted to himself with more than a little amusement. He'd suspected, all those years ago when they first officially met, that the Kyuubi was influencing Naruto more than anyone knew. But today had proved it. There was more than one occasion where the garnette had sensed something long before even Kakashi - and he was a dog-summoner!

Like the pinkette's fist - yes, he'd seen that, he'd been watching them since the beginning of the team reveal. Or when he was about to say something but cut off a few seconds before the others came out onto the roof. And just now when he seemed to have  _ smelled  _ Kakashi hiding behind them.

"Oi! Naruto! What do you keep staring at?" The nasally voice of a preteen fangirl cut through the garnett's concentration and Kakashi felt the hairs on the back of his neck lower again. He pushed up a little from his belly to see over the wall. They were all standing now, likely to go home but Haruno was the only one going for the door. The Uchiha had stayed by Naruto's side, likely using him as a meatshield against their other teammate. Naruto seemed amused by it more than anything else.

"I know this will go against every bulimic bone in your body, Haruno, but you should make sure to eat something more substantial than self-loathing tomorrow." Naruto said, earning an impressed gaze from the last good Uchiha at the amount of damage that simple sentence could potentially do. It hit all the right points without once sounding like he was mocking her, despite the words themselves and the disgusted curl of his lip.

Haruno was spluttering, looking a cross between angry and scared. "H-How do you know about--" She cut herself off, tears gathering in her eyes. Naruto softened a bit and relaxed his stance now that it was clear fear had won out over anger. He tapped his nose with a playful, but gentle smile.

"I can smell the weakness on you, the strain you're putting on your organs, the rot on your teeth. I bet that barring that one written test we had to do, you can't concentrate, right?" She reluctantly shook her head, feeling her face heating up with embarrassment. He was making her feel like an idiot without even doing anything but stating the facts.

Naruto sighed slightly. She really was just a scared child trying to live up to ridiculous expectations of what she thought a woman should be like, what a kunoichi should be like. "I know you want to stay thin, because you think it will make things better--but!" he held up a finger when she went to protest. 

"Depriving your body of the nutrients it needs to function and grow is a terrible thing to do to yourself,  _ especially  _ for people like us that burn more than twice the amount of energy than the civvies do just  _ breathing _ ." Naruto shook his head and put his hands on his hips, going into what Ron had called his 'mama bear' mode. He didn't slip into it often, but when Hermione started down a similar path he'd delivered her a right kick in the pants before permanent damage could be done.

Having been forcibly starved in more than one life now, he knew the effects of it on not just the body, but the heart and mind too.

"We are  _ ninja!  _ We are  _ teammates! _ I refuse to let you drag us down because you think making yourself weaker is appealing to men! Sasuke wants a strong independent kunoichi that doesn't take shit from anybody! He doesn't want a weak, emaciated twit that drapes herself all over him when the attention isn't wanted!" Both of them flinched, Sasuke with an incredulous blush on his face as he stared at the enigmatic garnette.

"How the hell would you know that, Naruto?!" He questioned defensively, not because it was inaccurate, but more so because  _ he was right! _

Naruto smirked as he turned to the Uchiha and wiggled his fingers. "Question not the Naruto, for the Naruto knows all things!" he stated pompously with a sniff, exaggerating the tone to make it clear he was joking. It got a startled laugh from the only girl on their team and Naruto's smile turned more genuine. For all their petty naivety, these kids weren't so bad. He just had to remind himself that they were, in fact, _ only kids _ . He hadn't been like them in a long time,  _ (if ever)  _ so it was something he needed to consciously remind himself of.

"Thanks, Naruto. I-I needed that, I think. My parents are--" Haruno shook her head with a bitter smile. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow? I'll make sure to eat, promise." She added hastily when it looked like he was gearing up for another lecture. It was a complete turnabout for the both of them in terms of attitude, but she didn't hate it. Hopefully with the air clear, as they say, she might be able to get along with her team. She waved them both goodbye, barely able to look at Sasuke with how embarrassed she felt.

Now that it had been thrown at her feet, she was mortified at her behaviour. She hadn't realised what the attention was doing to Sasuke. She didn't take into consideration his own feelings, just bulldozed him with hers. She needed to apologise, but that could wait until after she had time to sort herself and her feelings out.

Kakashi was impressed, materialising in front of the garnette when the Uchiha was gone. The boy didn't seem surprised. "You have personal experience with eating disorders, don't you." It wasn't a question, but Naruto smiled up at him with old and bitter and knowing eyes that caught his breath. 

"There are many terrible things I have personal experience in, Sensei. If I can divert an innocent from taking the same paths, then I will." Naruto vowed solemnly before jumping over the railing with the confidence of a lot of practice, leaving the only other equally as broken man behind to think on his cryptic words.


End file.
